The term “thermoelectricity” is understood to mean the reciprocal influence of temperature and electricity and their conversion into one another. Thermoelectric materials make use of this influence, in order to generate electrical energy from waste heat, as electric generators, but also come into use in the form of so-called heat pumps if, with the use of electrical energy, heat is to be transported from a temperature reservoir with lower temperature into one with higher temperature.
Particularly thermoelectric heat pumps are used in vehicle technology in the cooling of the most varied of components, such as e.g. modern lithium-ion batteries, which develop waste heat to a considerable extent during operation. Such thermoelectric heat exchangers in the form of heat pumps can, however, also be used in electric motor vehicles as a combined heating and cooling device, for instance for the temperature control of the passenger compartment, especially as they have a distinctly higher efficiency than, for instance, conventional electric resistance heaters. The fields of application of thermoelectric heat exchangers in motor vehicles are therefore diverse in nature.
The use in a motor vehicle always leads to the requirement to produce thermoelectric heat exchanges with high efficiency and in a compact construction. Heat exchangers installed in vehicles are therefore often produced in plate- or layered construction, wherein the thermoelectrically active elements are arranged within a thermally conductive housing and are supplied with an external electrical supply voltage for the transport of heat.